Patience Ibanga Akpabio

Patience Ibanga Akpabio (INEC: Akpabio Patience Christopher Ibanga), known as Pat Akpabio, is the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate for Akwa Ibom North-West (Ikot Ekpene) Senatorial District in the Senate election of 16 January 2027 (INEC final list, 12 September 2026), where the sitting senator is Senate President Godswill Akpabio of the APC. INEC lists her as a 41-year-old woman whose declared qualifications are a college pre-diploma, a BBA in Finance and a Master of International Business. Leadership gives Ukana Ikot Ntuen, Essien Udim LGA, as her country home. She is married to Chief Ibanga Udo Akpabio II, a lawyer who was the Akwa Ibom PDP state secretary while Godswill Akpabio was governor and is now an ADC chieftain. Her husband is a relative of the Senate President: Premium Times called him the Senate President's paternal cousin in February 2023 and his brother in October 2025, and she is usually reported as the Senate President's sister-in-law. In Facebook videos in October 2025 she accused the Senate President of non-performance and made serious allegations about his time as governor, and said she would challenge him in 2027. Through his spokesman Eseme Eyiboh, he dismissed the allegations and said she should report any evidence to the security agencies. On 20 October 2025 the Afe Nkuku Annang, the council of Annang traditional rulers, summoned her and her husband to appear before it within seven days; whether they appeared was not found. By March 2026 her ADC campaign posters were up across the district's ten local government areas, and by 13 May 2026 she had bought the ADC nomination and expression-of-interest forms. She won the ADC ticket for Akwa Ibom North-West at the party's state primaries, whose results were announced at the Helema Event Centre, Uyo, on the night of Sunday 24 May 2026; Daily Post reported that she polled 21,326 votes. Her opponents in the primary, if any, were not reported.